China Takes Aim at Moody’s After Rating Downgrade

Finance Ministry accusing firm of using inappropriate methodology

SHANGHAI—Moody’s Investors Service is facing a backlash in China against its decision to cut the country’s credit rating, a move that has come just as foreign ratings firms are set to receive greater access than ever to the world’s No.2 economy.

China’s Finance Ministry immediately criticized the Moody’s downgrade—its first such move in nearly three decades—accusing it of using an “inappropriate” methodology and betraying “a lack of...